Apparatus for making laddered tape for venetian blinds



Oct. 31, 1950 c. H. FRANKEL EI'AL 2,527,627

APPARATUS FOR MAKING LADDERED TAPE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Filed Dec. 24, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Patented Och-31, 1950 2,527,627

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR MAKING LADDERED TAPE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Charles H. Frankel and Irving M. Sondak, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignors to Frason Company, Inc., a corporation of New York Application December 24, 1947, Serial No. 793,710

11 Claims.

tion to provide apparatus of simple and rugged construction in which the separate parts of the Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 thereof, the reference numeral i designates a tape or strap of the laddered construction commonly used for the support of the slats in Venetian blinds. More particularly, the instant strap I0 is of the same construction as that shown and described in our referred copending application, and comprises spaced parallel plastic bands [2, and transverse plastic rungs referred tapes are rapidly assembled and joined. I4 which at regularly recurrent intervals are It is a more specific object of the present infused with their lateral end tabs IE to the advention to provide apparatus of this type into jacent bands I2, respectively. The bands l2 and which are directly fed in continuous form the rungs M are preferably made from any suitable supply materials from which the separate parts plastic sheet material which is readily flexible of the tapes are made, and in which the fed and may be of any desired color or colorless. supply materials are coordinated and joined in Since the plastic sheet materials used in the tape such fashion as to form a finished tape of inexpand considerably when subjected to heat, and definite length from which any desired lengths in order to prevent excessive and unequal exmay be severed as needed for individual blinds. pansion of the opposite bands l2 of the tape It is another specific object of the present inwhen subjected to different degrees of heat, as vention to design the apparatus with a view to when one band nearest a window is exposed to render it suitable for full automatic operation, the sun and the opposite band is not so exposed, 'so as to require the services of an operator only or when one band nearest a cold window is less for occasional supervision and servicing. subjected to the heat from a room radiator than It is another important object of the present e Opp ba d, provisions are made in the invention to devise a method of making the instant tape to compel the bands l2 thereof to referred tape which lends itself to inexpensive, remain of the same length regardless of varying yet highly efllcient, mass production of the tape heat conditions to which they are so frequently i th nt a arat s, subjected when used in Venetian blinds. To this The above and other objects, features and end, the opposite bands l2 of the tape Hi are readvantages of the present invention will be fully inforced by substantially inexpansible threads l8 understood from the following description conwhich are prefer y of derable tensile sidered in connection with the accompanying strength Nylon threads, for instance, were found i11 trat1 dra ings, to be very satisfactory for this purpose.

I the drawings: As customar in tapes of this kind, the rungs Fig. 1 perspectively illustrates the several dis- M are stagg r lo tudinally of the bands l2 assembled parts of a tape made in the present in the fashion best shown in Fig. 3, thus forming apparatus; two parallel columns C--| and C-2 of rungs Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the asalong the opposite side edges S-l and s 2, sembled tape; respectively, of the bands l2.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the Preferably, there are provided in the tape in tape, as taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; for maximum security four separate threads [8 Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-section through the which extend along the rung columns C-I and tape, astaken on the line 44 of Fig. 3; C2 and between the bands l2 and rung tabs Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of ap- I6 fused thereto, in the manner shown in Figs. 3 paratus which embodies the present invention and 4. and in which the present tape is produced, part Each thread i8 is thus conveniently anchored of the apparatus being shown in section taken on at regularly recurring intervals to its respective the line 5-5 of Fig. '7; band I2 within the confines of each rung tab it Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through the which it traverses. v apparatus, as taken on the line 66 of Fig. 7; Referring now to Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, there d is shown apparatus in which the above-described Figs. 7 and 8 are fragmentary cross-sections tape I0 is produced. The instant apparatus comthrough the apparatus, taken substantially on prises a suitably supported base or bed plate 30,

the lines 1-1 and 8-8, respectively, of Fig. 6.

having an aperture 32 in which certain parts to be described 01' the apparatus are vertically movable with clearance from the base plate 30. Carried by the base plate 30 are, in the present instance, two electrodes 34 each of which is mounted on a shaft 38, journaled in suitable bearing brackets 42 which are mounted on standards 46. The standards 46 are, in turn, suitably mounted at 50 on an insulating plate 52 on the base plate 30 so as to be out of electrical contact with the latter. The shafts 30 carry sprockets 54, respectively, over which passes a chain 50 for drivingly connecting said sprockets. One of the shafts 33 carries a second sprocket 60 over which passes a chain 62 that may be driven from any suitable hand or power-operated indexing mechanism (not shown) which during each intermittent operation turns sprocket 60 through one-half revolution in the direction of the arrow 64 in Fig. 5. Inasmuch as the other sprockets 54 are of the same size, the electrodes 34 will each be driven in the same direction through one-half revolution every time sprocket 60 is indexed through one-half revolution.

The standards 46, bearing brackets 42, shafts 33, electrodes 34, sprockets 54 and chain, 58, are of any suitable conductive metal, so that these parts are electrically connected with one another, though insulated from the base plate 30 by the plate 52. The indexing sprocket 60 is preferably mounted on an insulating hub I so that the former and the chain 62 thereon are effectively insulated from the electrically connected parts above-mentioned.

Adapted to cooperate with the rotary electrodes 34 are top and bottom counter-electrodes I2 which are in the form of plates of any suitable conductive material. The plate electrodes I2 are guided to and from clam-ping engagement with the rotary electrodes 34 on pilot pins I6 which may be mounted in the lower plate and be slidably received in the upper plate. The plate electrodes I2 are normally urged apart into the open position shown in Figs. 5 and 7 by compression springs I8, and are moved into clamping engagement with the rotary electrodes 34 (Fig. 6) preferably by hydraulically operated rams 00, respectively, on which the plate electrodes may be mounted and suitably insulated therefrom. Preferably, screws 84 in the rams 80 are threadedly received in metallic inserts (not shown) in insulating plates 88, respectively, which are interposed between the rams 80 and adjacent plate electrodes I2, respectively. The insulating plates 38 themselves may, in turn, be secured to the adjacent plate electrodes I2, respectively, by a means of screws 92 (Fig. 8) which are threadedly received by insulating inserts 96 in the plate electrodes I2, respectively. The screws 32 are preferably held out of contact with the plate electrodes I2 by passing through insulating bushings I00 in the latter (Fig. 8). Thus, the conductive plate electrodes 12, while being carried by the rams 30, are fully insulated from the latter, and are connected with each other by a conductive strap I04 which may be secured to the metal electrodes I2 as by screws I06.

The rotary electrodes 34 may be connected by means of a conductive strap I I0 (Fig. 7) of an A. C. power source (not shown) which is suitable for fusing the contacting portions of the plastic parts of the tape I0 together. The counterelectrodes I2 are connected with the other side of the electric power source by means of a conductive strap II2 (Figs. 7 and 8).

As previously mentioned, the tape I0 may in the present apparatus be formed of indefinite length, and suitable lengths may subsequently be cut therefrom as they are needed for individual blinds. Thus, the instant apparatus is highly advantageous, in that it may produce laddered tape of indefinite length which, if not immediately cut into shorter lengths for Venetian blinds, may be wound into a supply roll for convenient storage or shipment in this form. Thus, plastic sheet stock of the cross-sectional dimensions of the bands I2 may be drawn, by suitable feeding mechanism (not shown), from supply ,rolls, respectively, and fed directly into the apparatus in the direction of the arrows IIS (Figs. 5 and 6) at an intermittent rate at which they are required in the formation of the tape I0. More particularly, the top and bottom supply bands In and I2b are passed through guide slots I20 in transverse insulating blocks I22, which are secured at I24 (Fig. 8) to the insulating inserts 96, respectively, in the plate electrodes 12.

The rungs I4 in the columns C-I and 0-2 of the tape I0 are formed from two plastic strips I30, respectively, which may be of indefinite lengths in the form of supply rolls (not shown) from which they may be unwound at the rate at which they are being used in the formation of the tape. As described more in detail hereinafter, the leading ends of the supply strips I30 are led to the rotary electrodes 34, respectively, and there fused to the adjacent supply bands I2, respectively, and also cut from the supply strips I30, to form the separate rungs I4 on the tape I0. The supply strips I 30 are temporarily secured with their anchor" ends I30a on the electrodes 34, respectively, by being impaled on needle elements I32 on the latter in the fashion shown in Fig. 5. More particularly, needle elements I32 are suitably carried in opposite grooves I34 in each of the electrodes 34. Also suitably mounted in each groove I34 of each electrode 34 are knives I35 which straddle the adjacent needle element I 32, and cooperate with the adjacent block I22 on the adjacent closed plate electrode I2 in cutting the adjacent supply strip I30 (Fig. 6).

To prepare the instant apparatus for operation, the supply bands In and IR) are, as abovementioned, threaded through the aligned guide slots I20 in the blocks I22 on the upper and lower plate electrodes 12, respectively, in the fashion shown in Figs. 5 and 7. Next, the inexpansible threads I8, of which there are four in the present instance, may be drawn from suitable supply spools (not shown) and passed through the guide slots I20 in the blocks I22 in the manner shown in Figs. 5 and '7, i. e., so that they lie substantially in the median plane of the rotary electrodes 34 (Fig.7). The supply strips I30 may next be wound with their leading ends about portions of the circumferences of the electrodes 34, respectively, and impaled with their respective anchor ends I30a on the presently topmost needle elements I32 in the fashion shown in Fig. 5.

Assuming now that the electrodes 34 and I2 carry current and that the plate electrodes I2 are closed by the manually or automatically controlled hydraulic rams 80, respectively, those parts of the supply bands I2 and plastic strips I30 which then contact each other between the conductive surfaces of the electrodes 34 and I2 will be fused together, with the interposed portions of the reinforcement threads I8 firmly anchored therebetween at these points along the bands I2. Closure of the plate electrodes 12 also results in cutting performance of the presently foremost knives I36a in the electrodes 34, re-v spectively, (Fig. 6) to the end that they sever the fused rungs I4 from the supply strips I30 adjacent the bottom electrode 12 and sever the anchor ends I3Ila from the rungs I4 adjacent the to electrode 12. Further, on closure of the plate electrodes 12, the presently lowermost needle elements 34 in the electrodes 84, respectively, enter the new anchor ends I3Ilb of the supply strips I30 (Fig. 6), and thus anchor the new leading ends of the supply strips I30 to these electrodes. After two spaced rungs I4 are thus formed and fused to the opposite bands I2, as well as severed from the supply strips I30, the plate electrodes I2 are permitted to open, whereupon the previously mentioned indexing mechanism comes into operation and turns the electrodes 34 through one-half revolution, as described, whereby the presently leading, anchored ends of the supply strips I30 are automatically wound around portions of the circumferences of the electrodes 34 and finally assume the same dispositions as the previous leading strip ends in Fig. 5. The supply bands I'2a and lib, as well as the reinforcement threads I8, are also advanced appropriate amounts in the apparatus for the formation and attachment of the next two rungs I4 on the next closure of the plate electrodes I2.

It will thus be seen that the present apparatus is adapted for continuous operation, the supply materials being fed into the apparatus during intermittent openings of the plate electrodes I2, and the rungs I4 being formed and assembled with the bands I2 and reinforcement threads I8 during intermittent closures of the plate electrodes 12.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the present invention without departing from the underlying idea or principles of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure, by Letters Patent, is:

1. Apparatus for making laddered tape, comprising a first electrode with two opposite surfaces around part of which a plastic-faced flexible strip may be wrapped and extended over and in engagement with said surfaces, respectively, counter electrodes movable to and from pressing engagement with plastic-faced bands, respectively, superposed on the strip portions on said surfaces, respectively, of said first electrode, and pairs of cooperating elements carried by said first electrode and counter electrodes, respectively, and operative on movement of said counter electrodes into pressing engagement with their respective bands for severing said strip between its ends and the nearest portions thereof on said electrode surfaces, respectively, in close proximity to said strip portions.

2. Apparatus for making laddered tape, comprising a first electrode having two opposite surfaces, means on said electrode for releasably holding the leading end of a plastic-faced flexible supply strip in engagement with one of said surfaces so that a leading length of said strip may be wrapped partially around said electrode and extended over and in engagement with the opposite surface, counter electrodes movable to and from pressing engagement with plasticfaced bands, respectively, superposed on the strip portions on said surfaces, respectively, of said first electrode, and elements carried by said first electrode and the counter electrode adjacent said opposite surface of said first electrode, respecgagement with its respective band for severing v said leading strip length from the supply strip.

3. Apparatus for making laddered tape, comprising a rotary electrode having two opposite surfaces on opposite sides, respectively, of its rotary axis, means on said electrode for releasably anchoring the leading end of a plasticfaced flexible supply strip to either one of said surfaces so that a leading length of said strip may be wrapped partially around said electrode and extended over and in engagement with the opposite surface on turning said electrode through a partial revolution, and counter electrodes movable to and from pressing engagement with plastic-faced bands, respectively, superposed on the strip portions on said electrode surfaces, respectively.

4. Apparatus for making laddered tape, comprising a rotary electrode having two opposite surfaces on opposite sides, respectively, of its rotary axis, means on said electrode for releasably anchoring the leading end of plastic-faced flexible supply strip to either one of said surfaces so that a leading length of said strip may extended over and in engagement with the opposite surface on turning said electrode through a partial revolution, counter electrodes movable to and from pressing engagement with plasticfaced bands, respectively, superposed on the strip portions on said electrode surfaces, respectively, and elements carried by said first electrode and the counter electrode adjacent said opposite surface of said first electrode, respectively, and cooperating on movement of the last mentioned counter electrode into pressing engagement with its respective band for severing said leading strip length from the supply strip.

5. Apparatus for making laddered tape, comprising opposite counter electrodes, another electrode between said counter electrodes having at its opposite ends two spaced pairs of diagonally opposite contact surfaces and being turnable into either of two normal positions degrees apart in which the opposite sets of contact surfaces adjacent the opposite sides, respectively, of said other electrode are in operative alignment with said counter electrodes, and means on said other electrode between the spaced contact surfaces at each end thereof for releasably anchoring thereto the leading end of a plasticfaced flexible supply strip, said counter electrodes being movable toward and away from the aligned contact surfaces, respectively, of either set on said other electrode.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim ,5, in which said other electrode is notched between the contact surfaces at each end thereof, and said anchoring means comprises a needle element in each of said notches on which said strip may be impaled.

7. Apparatus for making laddered tape, comprising opposite counter electrodes, another electrode between said counter electrodes having at its opposite ends two spaced pairs of diagonally opposite contact surfaces and being turnable into either of two normal positions 180 degrees apart in which the opposite sets of contact surfaces adjacent the opposite sides, respectively, of said other electrode are in operative alignment with said counter electrodes, the latter being movable toward and away from the aligned contact surfaces, respectively, of either set on said other electrode, and pairs of cooperating elements on said other electrode between the spaced contact surfaces at each end thereof and the adjacent counter electrodes, respectively, for releasably anchoring to the element on either end of said other electrode a plastic-faced flexible supply strip interposed between said element and the adjacent counter electrode, on movement of the latter electrode toward the aligned contact surface of said other electrode.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7, in which said other electrode is notched between the contact surfaces at each end thereof, and each pair of cooperating elements comprises a needle element in one of said notches and an insulating bar on the adjacent counter electrode forcing an interposed strip into said one notch and impale it on the needle element therein on movement of said adjacent counter electrode toward the aligned contact surface of said other electrode.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7, in which said other electrode is notches between the contact surfaces at each end thereof, and each pair of cooperating elements comprises a needle element in one of said notches and an insulating bar on the adjacent counter electrode forcing an interposed strip into said one notch and impale it on the needle element therein on movement oi said adjacent counter electrode toward the aligned contact surface of said other electrode, and each insulating bar being recessed adjacent its respective counter electrode to form with the latter a guide passage for a plastic-faced band to lead it between said counter electrode and other electrode.

10. Apparatus for making laddered tape, comprising opposite counter electrodes, another electrode between said counter electrodes having at its opposite ends two spaced pairs of diagonally opposite contact surfaces and being turnable into either of two normal positions 180 degrees apart in which the opposite sets of contact surfaces adjacent the opposite sides, respectively, of said other electrode are in operative alignment with said counter electrodes, separat means on said other electrode between the spaced contact surfaces at each end thereof for releasably anchoring to either of said means the leading end of a plastic-faced flexible supply strip so as to wind a leading length of the anchored strip partly around said other electrode and extend it over the contact surfaces of one set thereof on turning said other electrode in a certain direction into one of said normal positions in which said one set of contact surfaces is in operative alignment with said counter electrodes, said counter electrodes being movable to and from pressing engagement with plastic-faced bands, respectively, superposed on the strip portions on the aligned contact surfaces, respectively, of said other electrode, and means operative on movement of said counter electrodes into pressing engagement with their respective bands for severing said leading strip end from said leading strip length and the latter from said supply strip.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10, in which said other electrode is notched between the contact surfaces at each end thereof and said anchoring means are located in said notches, respectively, and said severing means comprises spaced knives in each notch straddling the anchoring means therein, and an insulating bar on each counter electrode entering the adjacent notch in said other electrode and forcing the interposed strip material against the knife therein nearest the adjacent counter electrode, when the latter is moved into pressing engagement with its respective band, and each insulating bar being recessed against its respective counter electrode to form with the latter a guide passage for the adjacent band to lead it between the latter electrode and said other electrode.

CHARLES H. FRANKEL. IRVING M. SONDAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,944,282 Snyder Jan. 23, 1934 2,219,805 Buttress Oct. 29, 1940 2,250,533 Hanson July29, 1941 2,284,563 Dillinan et al. May 26, 1942 2,323,105 Welch June 29, 1943 2,412,693 Pierson Dec. 17, 1946 2,438,498 Geist Mar. 30, 1948 

